Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarships

Welcome to the website of the American Rhodes Scholarships. The Rhodes Scholarships are the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship awards in the world. Each year 32 young Americans are selected as Rhodes Scholars, through a decentralized process representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Applicants from more than 300 American colleges and universities have been selected as Rhodes Scholars. In most years, even after a century of competition, a Rhodes Scholar is selected from an institution which has not formerly supplied a successful applicant.

Rhodes Scholars are chosen not only for their outstanding scholarly achievements, but for their character, commitment to others and to the common good, and for their potential for leadership in whatever domains their careers may lead. The Rhodes Trust, a British charity established to honor the will and bequest of Cecil J. Rhodes, provides full financial support for Rhodes Scholars to pursue a degree or degrees at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in partnership with the Second Century Founder, John McCall MacBain and other generous benefactors. The first American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904.

This website provides information about the annual competition for the Rhodes Scholarships available to United States citizens, and is an introduction to the community of American Rhodes Scholars. Rhodes Scholarships are also available to citizens of certain other countries. For information about the global Rhodes Scholarships, and further information about the Rhodes Trust and Oxford University generally, see the links below. There you will also find a link for further information about American Rhodes Scholars and their alumni community.

American Rhodes Scholarships Winners 2015

On Saturday, November 22, 2014, the American Rhodes Scholar Class of 2015 was elected. These 32 outstanding students will commence their studies at Oxford in October 2015. They were selected from a pool of 877 candidates who had been nominated by their colleges and universities.